Alternate Names: Psychotic

Causes and Risks:

Psychosis is a severe mental condition characterized by a loss of contact with reality. Neurosis is a similar condition but is more a function of a conflict in desires, not reality.

Psychotic illnesses have a physical or emotional cause. They include such disorders as:

• alcoholic psychosis
• bipolar disorder
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
• affective disorder
• paranoia
• schizophrenia
• senile dementia/Alzheimer type

Prevention: Prevention depends on the cause. For example, minimizing alcohol use avoids alcoholic psychosis. Some causes, such as schizophrenia, have no known prevention.

Symptoms:

• loss of touch with reality
• seeing, hearing, or otherwise perceiving things that are not there (hallucinations)
• thought disorders
• emotion is exhibited in an abnormal manner
• extreme excitement (mania)
• confusion
• depression
• unfounded fear
• mistaken perceptions (illusions)
• false beliefs (delusions)

Signs and Tests: Psychological evaluation and testing helps to pinpoint the exact diagnosis related to the psychosis.

Laboratory or radiological testing is usually not helpful. However, sometimes such tests can help to pinpoint the exact diagnosis. This may include:

• MRI of the brain
• tests for syphilis
• drug screens

Treatment:

Treatment varies depending on the cause of the psychosis. Care in a hospital is often needed. Drugs that affect mental functioning or behavior (antipsychotic drugs) are sometimes helpful.

Prognosis:

The expectations for the outcome vary with the specific disorder. Many of the disorders are able to be controlled with treatment, but the treatment often needs to be long-term.

Complications: The psychosis often prevents the person from functioning normally.

Call your health care provider or mental health professional if a member of your family exhibits behavior that shows the person has lost contact with reality.